I always thought there was some mechanical reason for mounting the sidecar on the right, but some of these racers have the sidecar on the left. Is this a variation of the right-hand-drive thing?
Regardless, some great footage here. Mostly BMWs and Benellis from the 1969 championship. Sidecar riders show a bravery not often seen since the days of barnstormers and their aerial acrobatics. Their balance, agility, and sheer bravado always impresses me.
The barchetta equation (small displacement + light weight = good fun) works for motorcycles too.
Check out this stunning photography of a very special Honda RC166 from the Honda Racing Heritage collection. This example bearing number 7, was piloted by Mike Hailwood to victory in the 1966 Isle of Man TT. It wasn’t just on the ring around the dependency that Hailwood brought the 166 in for the laurels. Hailwood won 10 championship races in 1966 onboard RC166. This is an incredible racing machine, which captured the World Manufacturers Championship for Honda in the 250cc category for two years on a trot in the mid-60s.
Looking at these photographs, it’s little wonder that the Hailwood RC166 has become such a popular inspiration for tribute cafe bikes in a variety of engine configurations. The demand for 1960s Hondas remains high as a source for cafe bikes sporting this livery. I must admit, these photos certainly whet my appetite for one of these small displacement racers. Like their 4-wheeled counterparts, the barchettas, these small displacement bikes are the epitome of sports riding for me. Short wheelbases, light weights, and high maneuverability is a recipe for fun on the road or track. There are few machines on two wheels or four that would compete with this Honda RC166 (or it’s many imitators) for a magical afternoon on a twisty stretch of road. Check out the complete gallery, including some video and ringtones(!), on Honda’s MotoGP history gallery.
I found this via the motorcycling photography spotters at Bike EXIF, which also turned up this wonderful 50cc Honda Dream 50R. Hot.
More on this and other early Honda racers at vf750fd.com.
I followed this project—experiment really—as it was being developed in 2005-6. It was an audacious project. More than that; it was a journey of discovery—an archeology of sorts. I was reminded of this sheer insanity of this experiment this morning, and looking back through it again today I am still amazed that it paid off. Paul Bodie’s build of a 1919 Excelsior Auto Cycle boardtracker might be the boldest home engineering and machining project I’ve ever seen.
It’s uderselling it a bit to call Paul a home-engineer. His motorcycle shop, Flashback Fabrications, has spent many years building and maintaining race bikes of unusual origin. Racing takes a toll on any machine. If you’re going to go through the headache of rebuild after rebuild, and burn through a steady supply of disposable maintenance parts, you’ll want to do yourself a favor and pick a race vehicle common enough to not make every rebuild a quest for parts made of unobtainium. Paul is having none of that though, he raced a series of Aermaccis.
All of this ended up being good training for what was to come: building a replica of a 1919 Excelsior. This is a bike with no surviving examples. There are a scant few photos of the bike, all of them from the right side. Armed with the photos and a partial engine case, he set about building the bike. The frame is easy enough, but engineering a overhead-cam V-twin from scratch, from a photo, that’s something else. There is no surviving engine to copy. There is no archive of technical drawings. Just a photo. Madness.
And somehow, he pulled if off. More importantly, he was careful to document it thoroughly for us to enjoy. Dig through the project page-by-page to see how you can mold a combustion chamber from perforated metal and bondo (to be sand cast later), and other seemingly impossible tasks. It’s a mind blower.
The site chronicles the build from photo reference and sketches through the construction of a prototype. Paul has since built 4 more examples (of an eventual 10) which he’s selling at $155,000. That’s no small price for a motorcycle without brakes that you can’t drive on the street. Looking through the chronicle of the work that went into its development though; it’s a bargain.
In the time since developing this replica, Paul has since turned his attention to re-creating an 1896 Roper Steam Bike. I guess the plain-old Excelsior V-Twin was too easy for him.
Well my friends, The 2009 Goodwood Revival is already in the books. We spent an inordinate amount of time blasting you with every bit of minutia we could a few weeks back for the Monterey Historics. Sadly, the truth is very likely that the world’s greatest classic motorsport festival doesn’t take place on American soil at some desert track. It doesn’t even take place at my beloved Road America. It is almost certainly on the disused service roads surrounding the decommissioned airfield on the country estate of Lord March.
The beauty of the event, as I’ve said many times before, isn’t the tremendous quality of its racing cars and motorcycles, it isn’t the period-appropriate track itself, it’s not even the vintage aircraft that share the spotlight. The sheer enthusiasm of the period-attired participants and spectators for this event are the reason she so outshines her peers.
Enough of my jealousy of having missed Goodwood yet again, on to the booty! Videos and photos have been flooding the interwebs in the past week. Here are links to some favorites:
These Flickr streams were the sources of the photos above and offer many many more lovely captures from the weekend:
simmoB44, Bernie Condon, Eduard Mossinkoff, richebets, jobeywan, Natasha Baille, andAston-Phillips.
Of course, Octane is also on top of it with galleries from Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Board track cycle footage is exceedingly rare. Board track cycle footage of this quality is virtually unheard of. Makes me wonder what other tremendous racing footage is rotting in the film cans in the basements around the world.
Th
is has been getting some play on the motorcycle blogs, but the sheer beauty of this demands that I share it with you. This 1973 (non-video) arcade game is a thing of engineering and aesthetic joy. In the pre-video era, these remarkable coin-op games were not uncommon, and growing up in Michigan meant I could occasionally visit Marvin’s Mechanical Museum, which is a living museum of classic coin-ops. I don’t think ole’ Marvin has one of these, but if he did, I might have to move in.
This arcade game gives the customer, through a set of handlebars, control over a motorcycle which weaves, through traffic on its way to the finish line. Unlike some arcade driving games of the era, this game does not have small vehicles riding across a spinning treadmill to simulate motion. This game can do away with the visible strings holding the participants by using magnets to push the competitor motorcycles over a static play surface. The video does a much better job of explaining it than I ever could. It’s definitely worth a watch.
Needless to say, I’ve got a new obsession for an object to put in the garage. I’m not sure if this one is more or less expensive than a real race bike from the era would be. I’m also not sure which would be more fun.
More at The New Cafe Racer Society.
An event organizer finally figured out what makes the Goodwood Revival so special. It isn’t the history of the track itself, which is rich and storied. It isn’t the drivers, though Goodwood attracts many of history’s best. It isn’t even the race vehicles themselves, which are undoubtedly among the best in the world.
The Goodwood Revival is spectacular because of the attendees. The crowds almost entirely arrive in period attire. It’s a giant renaissance festival for cars. It’s the best possible cosplay. This extends to the grounds of course, which are staged and prepped in period attire as well, from traditional garages featuring period accoutrements, to classic pubs and barber shops; the entire scene is like a film set and the attendees its extras.
For Laguna Seca’s historic Festival of Legends motorcycle race, the 2010 event organizers have decided to showcase the halcyon days of motorcycle racing, the 1970s. The organizers promise to offer all the “spectacle and glamour of the era and a magical step back in time. The atmosphere, dress, food and music will celebrate life on racetracks in 1970s in a unique weekend celebration”.
Hopefully this isn’t all wishful thinking and the attendees will don their best short-shorts for the series. I’ve long been hoping that this enthusiasm among attendees at vintage events would spread from Goodwood to our shores. Even if the 70s isn’t your personal favorite period for fashion, I hope you’ll get into the spirit if you’re making your way to next year’s event. If it succeeds, we may see more of the classic racing spirit at Stateside events. I hope so.
Hell for Leather has more details, and will no doubt be following the story.
(Photo from Paul’s Place EUPEN’s vintage motorcycle racing Flickr Stream)
Sports Car Digest featured this brilliant photo of Georg “Schorsch” Meier on his way to winning the Isle of Man TT in 1939. This is the 70th anniversary of BMWs win.
I think we can all agree that there’s not enough airborne in modern motorsport.
